As at 2.20pm AEDT, the XJO was trading more or less exactly flat (down -0.003%) even after Wall Street notched fresh record highs overnight.
The big Aussie BHP Ltd was down -1.5% in mid-arvo trades while fellow ‘Mag2’ constituent Commonwealth Bank clocked a decline of -0.7%.
When both of the largest companies on the ASX fall, it’s generally a bad day. That maxim of share trading, at least, remains intact – unlike the belief the US 10Y bond yield matters to Wall Street.
(I summarised my thoughts on that in this morning’s Market Open.)
It was a good day, at least, for some ASX uranium investors – after the STOXX Nuclear Energy Index (NEI) jumped more than +4% overnight, a basket of uranium stocks have been firmly in the top gainer boards for the Wednesday session including Deep Yellow and SILEX Systems.
Given that uranium is probably the most fickle of all the energy commodities, don’t expect the euphoria to last.
Elsewhere, HotCopper darling Stakk Ltd inked yet another deal with a big name outfit in the US – this time, Step One Financial. If you don’t know who Step One are, just know it’s now owned by the world’s most popular Youtuber, James Donaldson – AKA Mr. Beast.
Talking of HotCopper darlings – or, if not darlings, hotly watched companies – defence VR training developer xReality Group today disclosed its first ever sale to the US Marines. While the contract is currently considered immaterial, it could put the company on the US DOD’s map.
All in all, it was a slow day for the market, and it could be a slow month until Australian AI giant Firmus lists on the ASX later this month. I’m currently based in Hobart, and believe me when I tell you their planned data centre for this state is big news here.
But the biggest piece of market news we got on Wednesday may have been from the High Court – Australia’s highest court has ruled planning boards at the governmental level must consider Scope 3 emissions when applying for extractive resource projects.
So far, that relates to a coal mine, but environmental groups will surely use to wield that precedent against the likes of Woodside and Santos.
Expect more from me on that tomorrow. Until then – have a great evening, and we’ll see you on Thursday.
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